Bedspring



Patented July 27, 1926.

UNrrED STATE-s;

PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE A. STACKHOUSE, OF HAYWARD, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOB, BY MESNE ASSIGN-MENTS, TO L. A. YOUNG INDUSTRIES, INC., OF DETROIT, mOHIG-AN, ACORPORIA-TION OF MICHIGAN.

BEDSPRING.

lApplication filed May 18, 1925. Serial No. 30,889.

This invention relates to bed springs and ,particularly to that typeemploying spiral or helical springs.

A bed spring of the character referred to consists of a main frame, anupper or border frame, a plurality of spiral springs, and tie memberswhereby they are secured with relation to each other and the respectiveframes. The upper or border frame is as a rule secured to and supportedby the upper end of the spiral springs only, and asv such. is not asrigid as might be desired. That is, itleaves the side edges of the bedsprings entirely too flexible and yielding so that a person. lying onone side of the bed has a tendency to roll ofi, and it also permits aside and end sway of the bed spring which is far from desirable.

The object of the present invention is t generally improve and simplifythe construction and operation of bed springs of the character describedand particularly to -provide a structure whereby the upper or borderframe is rendered more rigid and the side and end sway is substantiallyeliminated. p

One form which-my invention may assume is exemplified in the followingdescription and illustrated in the accompanying drawing` in whichvFigure l is a perspective view of a portion of the bed spring showingthe manner in which the upper or border frame is rigidly supported withvrelation to the spiral springs. y

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic view showing the form of spring structureillustrated in Figure 1.l

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view showing an ordinary form of springstructure.

By referring to the drawings in detail it will be noted that the bedspring consists of a main framel generally Vindicated at A, a pluralityof spiral springsB, and an upper or border frame C. The main frameconsists of side rails 2 which are tied to- A gether by means of sla-tsor cross bars such as indicated at 3'.. The lower ends of the spiralsprings -are supported by the cross slats, and the upper ends aresecured with relation to each other and also to the border frame C'.Double deck springs are employed in the present instance.` That is, theconvolutions of the respective springs are contracted near the centerportion as indicated at l and they are then gradually expanded so as tofinally assume the largest diameter at their upper ends as indicated at5.. The lower ends of the springs are secured to the cross slats bymeansof tie wires such as shown at 6. The center portions of the springs arealso-tied together so as to maintain them in a vertical position bymeans of cross wires 7 and longitudinally extending tie wires 8. .Thecross wires and the longitudinal wires are passed through the contractedcenter portion of the respective springs as shown at 4.- They then tiethe springs with relation to each other and maintain the same in avertical position, and they furthermore maintain a predeterminedinterspacing and centering of the springs. The ends of the cross tiewires 7 are extended upwardly to form supporting arms as shown at 7a.The upper ends are coiled or tied around the springs B and also aroundthe border frame as shown at 7b. The longitudinally extending ltie wires8 are alsoex'tended at the end and turned u wardly as' shown at 8 andthey are similarly tied 'around the upper ends of the sprin'sB `and theborder frame C as shown at S. v l l The cross. wires' 7 and also thelongitudinal wires 8 arepreferably constructed of spring wire, and thearms 7a and 8 may thus spring or yield to a certain extent when weightis imposed on the,` border frames as hereinafter described.. The arms 7a and 7b serve two functions: first, that of supportingthe border frame,and, secondly, that of tying the upper ends of. the

spring B with relation to the border frame.v

It should be realized that the perspective drawing ysubmitted merelyindicates one corner of a4 bed spring and that arms 7a .and 8a thereforedo not tie all the springs B with relation to the border .frame butmerely the side and end rows of the springs. All the intermediatesprings are also tied together at the upper ends, but they are notdirectly connected to the border frame. They are, however, connectedwithV adjacent sprngsphy means of cross helical or other wire ties suchas indicated at l), and the upper ends of the springs are thus spacedand centered with relation to each other.

The only novel feature' of the present in vention is that of exten-dingthe c ross wires 7 and the longitudinal wires 8 to form the supportingarms 7a and 8a. This feature is exceedingly important and to clearlydescribe it the following is submitted: Most bed springs are constructedin the manner here illustrated, the only difference being that the crosswires 7 and the longitudinal wires 8 are not extended to form arms 7atand 8a. The ends of the wires in place of being turned upwardly aremerely tied to the endmost spring and they therefore merely servethefunction of forming a center tie between the springs which maintains theproper spacing between the same. The border frame C is tied to the upperends of the spiral springs and a separate tie wire is therefore requiredfor this purpose. This separate tie wire is entirely eliminated byextending the cross and longitudinal tie wires to form the supportingarms "a and 8a as these extended arms serve the function of tying thesprings to the border frame and they also serve as a support for theborder frame. Vhen comparing the present structure with common practice,it will accordingly be noted that a saving is accomplished in the costof manufacture as the separate tie wire for the upper ends of thesprings to secure them to the border fram-e is entirely eliminated. Thisis, however, only a minor feature. If the border frame C is tied to theupper ends of the spiral springs B it will be noted that the borderframe will be entirely supported by the springs and as such--willreadily yield or sag when a weight is imposed on the outer edge of thebed spring as full resiliency of each spring is permitted. This isperhaps best illustrated in the diagrammatic view shown in Fig. 3 inwhich C indicates the bor-der frame and B a spiral spring supporting thesame. If a weight is imposed at C in the direction of arrow a the entirespiral spring will yield between the points indicated by dotted lines(see arrow b). That is, compression of the entire length of the springtakes place. But if the border frame is supported by the springs asshown in the diagrammatic view (see Fig. 2) and weight is imposed uponthe border frame in the direction'of arrow d it will be noted that onlythe lower half of the spring is placed under compression as any weightimposed upon the border frame is transmitted through the arms 7a and 8ato the lower half of the spring only. The lower half of the spring` willtherefore yield but it will obviously require a much greater weight tocompress one half of the spring to the same extent as the whole spring.It is for this reason that the arms 7a and 8n are important as theysupport the border frame from the lower half of the spring only. Theupper halves of the springs are not compressed to any appreciable extentwhen weight is imposed on the border frame and practically all weightlimposed therefore is taken up by the lower halves of the springs. Hencethe rigid support obtained by extending the cross wires 7 and thelongitudinal wires 8. If the border frame is secured in the usual manneras shown in Fig. 3 and the entire spring is permitted to yield it isobvious that if a person is lying on the edge of the bed a greater sagwill be permitted than whenl the border frame is supported as shown inFig. 2, hence, a person will have a tendency to roll 0E the bed when theborder frame is supported as shown in Fig. 3 while the rigid supportobtained by the arms 7a and 8aM in Fig. 2 will obviate this tendency. Itdoes not interfere with the resiliency of the springs within the borderframe and the springs are therefore permitted to yield throughout theirentire length when weight is imposed within the border frame. They willaccordingly yield when such weight is imposed and a slight uphillformation will be produced within the border frame when a person isreclining, thus eliminating any tendency to roll offv the edge of thebed.

It was also stated that the structure substantially eliminated any sideor end sway on the spring structure as a whole. This can also be clearlyunderstood when referring to Figs. 2 and 3. Tf the border frame issecured to the upper ends of the spiral springsshown in Fig. 3 and forceis exerted in the direction of arrow e the whole spring will tend tomove in the direction of the dotted line indicated at f. If the sameforce is exerted on the border frame C as indicated by arrow g the forcewill be imposed on the lower half of the spring only, or at the pointindicated at 72, and as only one half of the latter arm is presentedwhen comparison is made with the illustration in Fig. 3 it is obviousthat a much greater resistance is imposed and rigidity is obtained asfar as side sway or end movement is concerned. In other words, therigidity of the border frame is materially increased without aifectingthe resiliency of the individual springs within the border frame.Further advantage is obtained by this increased rigidity as it permitsgreater tension to be applied to the cross helicals D or other ties thustending to produce an even and uniform surface with relation to theupper ends of the spiral springs B.

While the spring structure is illustrated and described in connectionwith bed springs, it should be understood that it may be employedwherever spring structures of this character may be used. For instance,in couches. chairs, seats, upholstery work, etc., and while certainfeatures of the present invention are more or less speciiicallyillust-rated l wish it understood that various changes in form andproportion may be resorted to within the scope of the appended claims. Isimilarly wish it understood that the materials and finish of theseveral parts employed may be such as the experience and judgment of themanufacturer may dictate or various uses may demand.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is l. A spring structure of the character describedcomp-rising a. main support, a border Jframe, a plurality of springsinterposed between the support and the border frame and in paralleltherewith, and means whereby the border frame may be secured andsupported by the lower halves of said springs.

2. A spring structure of the character described comprising a mainsupport, a border frame, and a plurality of springs interposed betweenthe support and the border frame, and means securing the upper ends ofthe springs to the border frame, said means being interposed between thelower halves of the springs and the border frame and forming a supportfor the border frame.

3. A spring structure of the character described comprising a mainsupport, a border frame, and a plurality of springs interposed betweenthe support and the border frame, tie wires extending cross andlengthwise of the frames and passing through the springs at a pointsubstantially midway between their upper and lower ends, and upwardlybent extensions on the ends of the said tie wires, the upper ends of theeXtensions being tied to the upper ends of the springs and the borderframe and forming a support for the border frame.

4. A spring structure of the character described comprising a mainframe, a border frame, a plurality of spiral springs int-erposed betweenthe main frame and the border Jframe, tie wires extending` cross andlengthwise of the main frame and border frame and passingthrough thesprings at a point substantially midway between their upper and lowerends, the ends of said tie wires being extended and being bent upwardly,and the upper ends of said eXtensions being tied to the upper ends ofthe spiral springs and the border frame.

5. A spring structure of the character described comprising a mainsupport, a border frame, a plurality of helical springs interposedbetween the support and the border frame, said springs being so arrangedthat the outermost springs will be disposed in row formation inparallelism with the border frame and auxiliary supporting arms securedat their upper ends to the border frame and at their lower ends to thelower halves of the springs which are disposed in parallelism with theborder frame.

GEORGE A. STACKHOUSE.

